Japan Autumn Trip 2017 Part 3

Day 6 - Kyoto

The next day, to fill up the photoshoot session, we decided to just skip Kobe and went around Gion Tanto. So we took bus from the bus stop right in front of our hotel to Gion Bus Stop. Kyoto has a flat rate for bus (230/adult and 120/child). We stopped right in front of Hanami Koji Street which is famous for spotting Maiko. We didn’t go there actually, instead, we walked towards Gion Tanto, a famous spot for cherry blossom in Spring and autumn colors during autumn. 

Before we arrived at the site, we rented Kimono from one of the shop. The Kimono was so tight and requires quite sometimes to change. So we only started the photo session at 1pm. The area was really pretty and perfect for a kimono day. The price of kimono rental is from 3.500 – 10.000 yen. If you need hairdo, it will cost 1.000 – 1.500 yen with additional accessories for 500 yen. 

The weather was cold. We thought the Kimono would make us feel even colder, but it’s not. It’s warm actually even though our neck was exposed. For me personally, wearing Kimono didn’t really suit me. But whatever, I just had this one photo looking quite okay. What do you think?

Then we ate around Gion Tanto for Ramen Muraji. Mom had Lemon Ramen which is quite famous. This restaurant had trip advisor recommendation. I had Tsukemen for the first time and the noodle is a bit hard. But combines perfectly with the hot broth.

Afterwards, we went to Kiyomizudera. It was a long walk uphill but it's very pretty. We get the sunset and the fall foliage of the red tree around there. Although the main hall is under construction until 2020, Kiyomizudera is still one of the places you should visit when you came to Kyoto. 

We also tried the Otowa Waterfall which is famous for its three stream lines. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, and visitors use cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each stream's water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life. However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy.

The weather got colder at night, so after several shops closed, we went back to  our hotel near Kujo Station by taking bus from Kiyomizu-michi Bus Stop (230 yen/one way) and went to Don Quijote store at Kyoto Avanti. It’s a huge store with so many products and souvenirs to bring back to your home country. I bought few snacks on me as well. Afterwards, we went to Family Mart to buy some food to eat. The food from Family Mart is delicious as well. At night we talked that tomorrow we should wake up early because the train to Takayama will depart at 8.43am from Nagoya Station. 

However, we noticed we haven’t gone to Fushimi Inari Taisha, the famous tori gate in Kyoto and that’s a MUST go place in Kyoto. So, we decided to wake up early at 6am to visit Fushimi Inari and be back to hotel around 9am. I checked the train schedule to Nagoya will leave at 10.32am from Kyoto Statio and reach Nagoya Station at 11.25am in morning. And if we want to go to Takayama, we just need to take the 11.43am limited express train to Takayama. 

So, everything settled. The original plan is to take early train to Takayama. Possibly reached there at 11.00am and just go straight to Shirakawago. But as we saw the weather is cloudy, it’s possible that we might not get a good view. Besides, I wanted to visit Shin Hotaka Ropeway as well (90 minutes bus ride from Takayama Station). It is famous for its double decker cable car and the 360 degree view of Mt. Hotaka. Besides, if you are lucky, you will get to see Snowman on the top of Mt. Hotaka. This ride is more famous to the locals there, and not so many people know about it. 

But this ride requires perfect or fine weather at least. Thus, it’s quite hard to predict the weather and I wish we could go there again the next time. 

Day 7 - Takayama

The next day, we woke up at 5.30am and promised to be ready at 6am. So, we checked out from our hotel and leave the baggage at the lobby. Then we walked to Kyoto Station and took JR Nara Line to ride 2 stops, alight at Inari Station.

The Fushimi Inari Taisha gate is just right in front of the station. The sun just rise and we are really lucky as there is no crowd at all, so we could take some pictures just near the first gate. 

The temple is not open yet, but you can just go to the tori gate inside and took pictures on the most iconic shrine in Japan. Once you travel through the vermillion torii gates you will arrive at the Okushahōhai-sho, a shrine hall where you will find two very special rocks.  The rocks are called omokaru ishi (“heavy-light rocks”) and they are said to be able to predict the likelihood that you’ll achieve your dreams. First, you place a small donation into the donation box, and then make your wish in front of the rocks before picking one up. If the rock is lighter than you thought it would be, your wish might be coming true soon. However, if the rock is heavier than you thought, your wish might take quite some time before being realized.

In Fushimi Inari, I also bought some of the Omamori which I didn’t bought when I visited Kiyomizudera. We didn’t go too far up, because we need to catch up the train. But if you walk about 45 minutes up the mountain, you will arrive at Yotsutsuji intersection. Here, you are rewarded with a panoramic view of Kyoto where you can rest and take photos. There is also a lovely café called Nishimura-tei as well as other restaurants and waystations to sit and rest at along the way that offer local fare such as inarizushi (sushi made with vinegar rice wrapped in fried tofu), tea, noodles, and other food.

Afterwards, we went back to Kyoto Station and reserve seat to Takayama. Then we went back to hotel to take our luggages. We are quite relax, as we have one hour for the departure. But then noticing we only have 30 minutes left, we hurriedly went back to Kyoto Station. This time, it’s much better to catch up for the shinkansen. We just haven’t had any idea how to transfer to limited express train at Nagoya Station later on, when we only have 20 minutes. It will be crazy. 

Then we took the Shinkansen to Nagoya. It takes about 59 minutes from Kyoto to Nagoya. Much faster than to Tokyo. After we arrived at Nagoya Station, we need to find the track for limited express to Takayama. We were told it was on track 14, so we hurriedly run while bringing the luggages with us. When we reached track 14, we noticed the train was there and was panicked because that means we were gonna be late. The good thing is, Felix noticed car no 2, right in front of the escalator, so we rushed to take all the luggages inside the train first. Meanwhile, it was then we notices we still have 5-8 minutes time before the train took off. Japan has the most punctual time in terms of their transportation. If it was stated 10.43am, they will really go at 10.43am, if you were late even for 1 minute, they will leave you. So we are afraid of that, considering our luggages. 

After 4.5 hours of journey, we reached Takayama Station. During our time on the train, we spotted many beautiful area, sometimes it was already snowing, sometimes it had no snow at all. But we are really grateful because we didn’t expect to see snow in this trip. It was autumn trip, but end up as winter trip. When we arrived at Takayama Station, it was snowing lightly. Takayama Station is really developed with highrise building and good architecture. We found so many westerners coming to Takayama by limited express as well. 

We then tried to found our hotel, Country Hotel Takayama, which is just across the street. The hotel is quite nice with Family Mart just below the hotel. We love family mart so much. After cheking in, we walked to the back of the hotel and tried to find a restaurant for us to eat. Takayama Old Town is not quite far from our hotel, so we just take a walk for about 5-10 minutes. But most of the restaurant are closed and will only open at 5pm because it’s their resting time already. We missed the lunch time. So it’s a bit hard to find restaurant that are still open. We finally found a restaurant called, Café楓 who serves Doburi rice. Originally I wanted to order Pork with rice, but end up with Hida Beef Donburi and it was sooo delicious, I swear. Though I didnt eat beef, but once you are in Takayama, it’s a must to try Hida Beef, either on Bun or Hida Beef Sushi. The sushi will be a bit pricy but you have to try (I didn’t though)

After we ate our lunch, we walked more around Takayama Old Town. There were many stores, supermarket and souvenir stores. The road looks like a bit like Santa Claus Village, though it didn’t snow that much but there were quite few decorations and it feels Christmas is just around the corner. We then found the iconic bridge of Takayama, Nakabashi Bridge. It’s quite famous for the festival there. 

It’s only 5pm but the sky starts getting darker and the weather felt even colder. It’s -2 degree celcius and we decided to go back to our hotel to rest. The rest had a good rest, since Felix & I really wanted to have our dinner, so Mom, Dad, Felix & I decided to find restaurant near the hotel. We spotted a ramen restaurant and I ordered Tenma Ramen, a Takayama kind of ramen and it was so tasty. The broth is clear but it tastes really good. I guess whatever you eat in Japan will always taste good. 

Mom ordered Capcay Rice and Dad ordered chicken cooked with vegetables with rice. Even just a random choose, the taste is still really good. The chicken is soft and tasty as well. When we are on the way back to our hotel, we spotted the snow was falling quite heavily and we are so happy to finally spot snow! It’s one of our bucket list. 

Tomorrow, we are going to Shirakawago and it’s better sleep early right?

Originally, we really wanted to visit Shin Hotaka today but since the weather is cloudy, it’s gonna be hard to see snow there. So we cancelled our plan and had a good rest first. I suggest, if you want to visit both Shirakawago & Shin Hotaka Ropeway, please spare at least 3-4 days to check on the weather.